Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Going Back To Some Basics part 3

Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi

In this next installment on the basic Duality of "Self" & "Other",
modeled in terms of Descartes’ Coordinate Space, we go pack to zero-dimension,
0-D, the infinitesimal Point, the Sanskrit bindu
which stands for conceptions of the Self, the Atman, & therefore
of the identical Brahman, known in the objective sense as God. This projected "empty substance" is
the "taken for granted" background, in the objective sense. Other 0-D Space "shadows" of this
same include the false "I", the Ego.
This Ego, like the even more objective 0-D Spaces also serves as a
Reference Origin Point for higher dimension spaces.

For instance, Ego (or "Me") stands as Reference
Origin Point for the Flow of Thought
which constitutes the 1-D model of Mind.
Mind like every other Coordinate Space is inherently limitless if only
due to the Space’s objectively "formless" nature. To that extent every Coordinate Space in our
model is an Analog continuum, while
the Reference Origin Point is the central Discrete
point which specifies meaning to all the other Discrete Coordinate Points.
This Discrete quality
introduced by Coordinate Points contrasts with the Analog continuum of the Space itself & this Discrete quality introduces situated
separation, duality, multiplicity, duality, variation, diversity, &
comparison – all due to the imagined infinitesimal Gaps dividing one Point from another. Gaps are
entire topic in themselves & the focus of the Eleatic Sages: Parmenides,
Zeno, & Melissus.

The Flow of Thought,
which solidifies further as a flow of Words, thus comparing to a flow of Sound
as well, is like all just mentioned a 1-D "Number–Line" laid
out along a Flow of Time. So each of
these linear 1-D Coordinate Spaces features a Referenced Origin Point of
"Now" that divides Past from Present.
[The meditation on the "3
times" is taken up in a later installment.] Thought are Past or
Present, just as Words & other Sounds are coming or gone. Now is a 1-D Reference Origin Point for
Thought, Words, & Sound just as Ego is a 1-D Reference Origin Point for
Mind. The other Discrete Coordinate
Points are Thoughts, Moments, Sounds, etc.
Every Thought pertains to what is good/bad for Me, big/small
or near/far to Me, & so on.
All thoughts are referenced to the Origin Point Me, as all Moments are to
the Origin Now. But Mind is also modeled
in 2-D, 3-D, & 4-D, as seen in the next installment. For now, again that
dominant Object-Idea, the Body is discussed by Master Nome.

The Self is non–dependent Existence. It is
regardless of the senses & corresponding thoughts. It is directly &
immediately known. It is not known through something else. The Body is entirely
dependent on sense perception in order to appear. The senses depend upon the
mind. There is no body apart from these [senses & mind]. How, therefore,
can the Self s Existence be equated with the body ? The Body has no sense of "I". The "I" belongs to Existence. When the "I"
sense is confounded with the Body, such is delusion, & the Self is then
assumed to be a bodily being or an embodied entity. There is no actual
experience of being a Body. There are
only Sense Perceptions, which are misconstrued in delusion. There is actual Existence, with its own
unbroken continuity, the invariable constant knowledge that you are. There is
no memory of being a Body. There is the timeless knowledge of Existence. Memory is always only of something objective,
yet the object itself does not exist.
So, the memory of it is also unreal & cannot actually exist. The Body is an illusion in Time &
Space. The Self is not in Time &
Space. How, therefore, can the Self s
Existence be equated with the body ?

Ancient philosophers, & Bishop George Berkeley a few
centuries ago, rightly reasoned that we mentally experience Perception, which
is Thought in the Mind. Even if there
were "outside" Objects, none could ever be contacted, ever directly
experienced. All we touch, all we experience are Thoughts which include
Perceptual thoughts or Perceptions. The
role of the Body-idea in our Coordinate Space model of "Other" is yet
to be detailed in later installments.
But as a stand-in for one’s Self, the Body is an illusory Perception,
not a "thing" to hang your hat on.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are
freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public
Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through www.jpstiga.com ]

Monday, May 30, 2016

Going Back To Some Basics part 2

Master Nome

In the former & 1st installment, we touched
on the basic Duality of "Self"
& "Other", diverting to that one bit of "Other" that we
so often take to be the "I", take to be oneself, namely, the
Body. Before continuing that thread,
another is now introduced, namely the actually "Space" – idea
within which the Body appears, along with Mind & World, those key ideas we
take up after looking again further at the Body.

But initially, surrounding the vague sense of "Other", conceived as different
from one’s Self, the feeling that "there seems to be something"
coalesces, as previously stated, with some kind of location, some size or
extent, some "substance" constituting this "something". But
what seems to be this "other" ?
In a way, this can be said to be a kind of "pure extent" or
Space. Seldom formalized, this universal
sense of Space was simply systematized by Rene Descartes as mathematical
Coordinate Space, familiar to grade school students as "graphs". Now there is no pretense that such formal
ideas crystallize in the initial sense of "Other" as Space, but
adopting this device simplifies our discussion.

In essence the idea of Space is that of a Container, one
that is formless, boundless, with no edge or boundary, empty of texture,
unchanging, & vast when we so consider it. One aspect of this idea of Space
is Dimension, a bit of form if you will, first formalized by Descartes in the
manner of rulers or knotted ropes first borrowed by the Egyptians from fishing
nets. The two-dimensional simplification
used by Descartes had appeared among the Greeks as Latitude & Longitude in
Geodesy. Such a concept was preserved by
Arab philosophers during Europe’s Dark Ages. Leaking back of these ideas from
Islam-conquered Spain to Italy prompted Perspective Drawing, Scaling, & the
Architecture that allowed the Renaissance & later on, Analytical Geometry
& ultimately Computer Science. Greek mathematics of Conic Sections played a
major role in Descartes’ Coordinate Space as well.

While Descartes’ "graphs" are two-dimensional or
2-D, our everyday sense of Physical Space & the World are 3-D. And yet, we
start next time to formalize the sense of "Other" this way, including
the Body, by initially looking at 0-D & 1-D Spaces of Ego, Now, Here, &
God for 0-D, followed by Time, & Mind in 1-D. For now though, we continue with another
installment on the Body idea by again quoting from Master Nome, disciple of Sri
Ramana Maharshi:

The Self is non–objective & ever the
knower. The Body is objective & always only the known. How, therefore, can the Self’s Existence be
equated with the Body ?

Basically, like all the rest of the World, the Body is
"out there" while one’s Self, the primordial Consciousness called
"I" that knows of it sown Existence, that Self is
"inside". Terms like "out
side" & "inside" take on more formal definition later in
this series. "Objective" refers to the "objects" that are
"outside", the "objects" that are known by
"Perception" [physical objects] or "Conception" [subtle
mental objects]. The Knower, the
Consciousness is "Non-objective",
Only if we accept a Duality of Knower & Known, then do we similarly
refer to the Duality of Subject & Object.
In that case we can somewhat equate "Non-objective" with
"Subjective", but until then, "Non-objective" is more
generally applicable.

The Self is attributeless Existence. The Body is known
by its perceived attributes, apart from which there is no Body. How, therefore, can the Self’s Existence be
equated with the Body ?

"Attributes" are the specific qualities by which
individual gross Perceptions or subtle Conceptions are distinguished, one from
the other. Being "Non-objective", the Self has n attributes while the
Body, an Object, does have attributes,

The Self is continuous. It does not commence at birth,
& it does not cease at Death.
Existence does not have the attribute of “living” or “dead.” Existence & the Knowledge of Existence
are full & not partial. Knowledge of
Existence is not sporadic & does not move about to different parts.

Non-Duality characterizes the "substance" of the
Self, while particular details characterize the body & other Objects. This
applies to Continuity in Time, or its opposite, in the case of the Body.

The Existence of the Self is the constant background
of the Body’s appearance &
disappearance, & likewise, of the Waking
& other states of Mind. The Body is discontinuous in several ways.
For the Body, there is Life & Death. The experience of the Body is sporadic
in Perception, with only one, or a few parts or senses experienced at any one
time. Never is one aware of all of it
at once. The Body appears only in the Waking state of Mind. How, therefore, can
the Self s Existence be equated with the Body?

Just at the Body is only known through Perception, so to is
each Perception partial. For those from the Vedas through philosopher George
Berkeley through modern Islamic author Harun Yahya, the World is Unreal. When
perceiving the Leg, the Arm just isn’t there. Earlier quotes about how the Body
"appears only in the moments of
perception" is a caution that applies piece by piece. We only experience a Body, or a Universe, one
thin slice at a time. Mentally we "fill-in" the rest just as does the
Optical system in vision.

Next time we continue with the model of Coordinate Space on
the one hand, & the comments of Master Nome on the Body & the Self as
well.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely
available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public
Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through www.jpstiga.com ]

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Going Back To Some Basics

As happens here, we return again to the question: Do you
exist ? "Inside", each of us certainly feels: "Yes,
certainly I exist !" We also "know" so.
That "inner place" of certainty about your Existence,
& certainty of knowing so – that is the Self. Known
fully, the one Non-Dual Self reveals itself to be Infinite, Eternal,
Existence – Consciousness – Bliss, or equivalently,
Happiness or Love. But these are places we go latter, since we only take a 1st
step at this point.

Then what else is there ?
Perhaps one senses [truly or
falsely] "there seems to be something." Perhaps this "something" or
"Other" seems characterized by some kind of location, some size or
extent, some "substance" constituting this "something". But what really is all this "other"
? For now we focus on that one bit of
"other" that we so often take to be the "I", take to be
oneself, namely, the Body. Quoting Master Nome, disciple of Sri Ramana
Maharshi:

For Self-Realization, it is necessary to know the Self
as transcendent of bodily form & limitation. By liberating oneself from the
ignorant mis-identification with the Body & its attributes, one abides as
the infinite & the eternal. Those
who understand that they seek a Realization that is not a bodily state … seek to discern the Self’s freedom
from the Body & its attributes. That
is, one should know the Self’s transcendence of all bodily definition. The
results of this knowledge of the Self s freedom from the limitations of the
Body & its attributes are, Bliss & Peace that are undisturbed by bodily
conditions, spiritual freedom from birth, growth, decay, illness, & death,
& transcendence of action.

Among the numerous meditations just enumerated, runs the
undercurrent that is the role that the "Body" plays in confusing the "I"
– "Other" confusion.
Taking that "Body" from out of the "Other" category
& mistaking it for the "I", the Self – this is an insurmountable
obstruction to Enlightenment,

Remain detached from the Body, its attributes, &
its activities. Utilize the bodily form, while it is alive, as an instrument
for selfless activity inspired by wisdom, by the desire for Liberation, &
by the immensity of Grace, acting with corresponding equanimity &
devotion. The bodily activities are used
as an instrument that expresses the divine.

By contemplation on its wondrous workings, the Body
may be viewed as a reminder of the Supreme Consciousness by which it appears,
as does appear the entire Universe. The
emphasis is placed, not on the reminder, but on that of which one is reminded.

Abide unmoved by pleasure & pain, motion &
inactivity, & birth & death. For
invariable Bliss, one must know one’s freedom from the Body & all bodily
attributes. Knowledge is Realization. It is neither something done nor is it any
bodily transformation, but it is comprehension of what is true.

And then, as if covering an interim, before
Body-misidentification has been released, much of the above guides the
Body-identified through & past that delusion.

The Self is Formless, birthless, deathless, &
immutable. It is eternal & infinite
Being-Consciousness-Bliss. Realization
of this results from liberating the Self by the essential discrimination
inherent in the inquiry, from the illusory bondage of ignorance, which is
composed of the delusive assumption that the Self is something other than the
true Being that it is.

It is possible to realize this true Being only if one
is thoroughly free of the ignorance that consists of misidentification with the
Body, for a Body has form, birth, death, change, does not last forever & is
not infinite.

As long as there is any misidentification with the
Body, real nature of the Self will not be known, or the Self will be misconceived in terms of the
limitations of the Body. When such a misconception is relinquished by a deep
inquiry into one’s actual Being, the nature of the Self is self-evident.

The Self is changeless Existence. The Body changes
continuously, even if this change is noticed only after some time. How, therefore, can Existence be equated with
the Body ?

The Self is birthless. There is no time when it is
not. There is no experience, no
knowledge, and no memory of non-existence or of the commencement of
existence. The Body has a birth. How, therefore, can Existence be equated with
the Body ?

The Self is immutable.
There is no increase or decrease in Existence. The Body has growth & decay. How, therefore, can Existence be equated with
the Body ?

The Self is deathless.
There is no time when Existence is not, & nonexistence cannot even
be imagined without oneself existing to imagine so. The Body is multiplicity of elements and
organs, a conglomerate of cells, apart from which there is no entity that can
be referred to as a “Body.” The Body is
matter. The Self is immaterial. How, therefore, can Existence be equated with
the Body ?

And then finally, the meditations turn back onto the Self,
again reiterating non-identification with the "illusory" Body.

The Self is not momentary, but permanent without a
moment’s interruption. Its Existence does not cease even in the absence of
Perception. The Body is momentary. It endures but for one lifetime. It appears
only in the moments of perception.

Pinpointing the "illusory" character of the Body,
actually applies to the whole World, & all that is "other",
Master Nome reminds us that the Body "appears
only in the moments of perception".
Perceiving anything does prove nothing about the reality of the object
seemingly perceived. Only, Perceptual Thoughts are experienced, not any objects
themselves, & not any "Body".

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused
or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public
Folder” accessible through www.jpstiga.com ]

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Sri Bhagavan’s Wisdom

Much of Sri Bhagavan Ramana Mahrshi’s shared wisdom could
not be contained in printed words or even his spoken speech. And yet even his spoken words went largely
unrecorded. Nevertheless, those texts
which are available, mostly as remembered & transcribed by others, are too
vast a treasure to be readily reviewed, nor certainly in any way
summarized. From time to time, we will
almost randomly taste a drop, here & there, as in what follows. (paragraph titles are added)

Regardless of what
the "others" may say, the Waking World actually is an unreal Dream

You are bodiless & Space-less in Deep Sleep, yet in the
Waking state & in Dream appear to be the opposite. Whatever the Dream, the
only thing that has value & is worth doing with regard to Dream is to wake up. Although within the Dream,
everyone they would have tried to convince you of it, when you wake up, do you
say that the experiences of the Dream were real ? No.
Similarly, when you wake up to the Self these experiences of the World
will be unreal, like in a Dream, although others in that state will try to
convince you that they are real.

asters Grace.

Confusion is due to
ignorance

Man is always the Self & yet he does not know it. Instead
he confounds it with the non-Self, body, etc. Confusion is due to ignorance. If
ignorance is wiped out, the confusion will cease to exist & the true
Knowledge will be unfolded.

Only lose the Ego

Be what you are. All that is necessary is to lose the Ego.
That which is, is always there. Even now you are that. You are not apart from
it The thought, "l have not
realized", the expectation to become realized, & the desire of getting
anything, are all the workings of the Ego.

The Ego-Self appears & disappears & is transitory
whereas the real Self is permanent. You wrongly seem to identify the real Self
with the Ego-Self. See if that mistake has come about. The Ego-Self does not
exist at all. To whom is the trouble ? The trouble also is imagined. Trouble
& pleasure are only for the Ego. Take care of yourself. Let the World take
care of itself. See your Self. If you are the Body there is the gross World
also. lf you are spirit all is spirit alone. Do it yourself 1st & then see if the
question of others arises afterwards.

It helps to lose
concepts

The degree of the absence of concepts is the measure of your
progress towards Self- realization. But Self-Realization itself does not admit
of progress, it is ever the same. The Self remains always in Realization. The
obstacles are concepts. Progress is measured by removal of obstacles to
understanding that Self is always realized. So thoughts must be checked by
seeking to whom they arise. Go to their source & they will not arise.

Self-Inquiry &
the Mind

The Truth of your Self alone is worthy to be scrutinized
& known. Taking it as the target of your attention, you should keenly seek
to know it in your spiritual heart. This knowledge of yourself will be revealed
only to the Consciousness which is silent, clear & free from the activity
of the agitated & suffering Mind.

The Mind is only a bundle of thoughts. How can you
extinguish it by the thought of doing so, or by a desire? Your thoughts &
desires are part & parcel of the Mind. The Mind is simply enhanced by new
thoughts rising up. Therefore it is foolish to attempt to kill the Mind by
means of the Mind. The only way of doing it is to find its source & hold on
to it. The Mind will then fade away of its own accord.

The Mind, turned outwards, results in thoughts &
objects. Turned inwards, it becomes itself the Self. To ask the Mind to kill
the mind is like making the thief the policeman. He will go with you &
pretend to catch the thief, but nothing will be gained S0 you must turn inward
& see from where the Mind rises & then it will cease to exist.

It is with the inward-going Mind that you eliminate the
outward-going Mind. You do not set about saying there is a Mind & I'm going
to kill it, but you seek the source of the Mind. Then you will find that the
Mind does not exist at all.

Whenever you are disturbed by thoughts you need merely
withdraw within to the Self This is not concentration or destruction of the
Mind but withdrawal into the Self.

Know that the Consciousness always shines as the formless
Self, the true Your duty is to be, & not to be this or that. All required is to realize the Self is to be still, since the Self is not now
understood to be Truth, the one Reality.

When one daily practices more & more abiding in the
heart, the Mind will become extremely pure due to the removal of its defects,
& the practice will become so easy that the purified Mind will plunge into
the heart as soon as the Inquiry is commenced.

All that you need do is to find out the origin of the
“I-thought" & abide there. Your efforts can extend only thus far. Then
the beyond will take care of itself

Guru’s Grace though
Liberation is always

Liberation is ever present & bondage ever absent. That
which is, is only Grace; there is nothing else; but as long as the Dream
prevails, the Master must be sought & served to evoke the Grace. Every
plane of Worldly existence has its own illusion, which can be destroyed only by
another illusion on the same plane. For example. a man takes a full meal &
goes to sleep. He dreams of being hungry in spite of the food he has in his
stomach. To satisfy the Dream hunger, he has to take Dream food. A wound in
Dream requires Dream treatment. A great King once dreamt that he was ill but
was too poor to call a doctor. Although he had fabulous wealth in the Waking
state, it was of no use to him in the Dream state. Similarly, the illusion of
ignorance can be destroyed only by the illusion of the Mind.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused
or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public
Folder” accessible through www.jpstiga.com ]

Consciousness is the actual nature of Absolute
Reality, nothing else actually exists, but rather only seems to appear in that Consciousness. The self
of all, of you & I, is just that same Brahman,
Consciousness. Precisely, That is what you are. "I am Brahman" (Consciousness) is the inescapable conclusion.

[Attempting to resume this
Blog after physical limitations, only to lapse again, this time there is
resolve to follow-through.]

Dakshina

All is Karma, All is Grace,

Living Dharma, All is Space.

What follows is Dakshina,
offering to God, as Guru. Dakshina–murti
is also the name given to the primal Guru,
as form taken on by Absolute Shiva,
Supreme God or Brahman. The non-sequential lineage of Dakshina–murti includes the Sage Ribhu of the Ribhu Gita, or Song of
Ribhu. Like included ins Guadapada
who pronounced Advaita Vedanta’s acme school of Ajata-Vada, the
most UQND Un-Qualified Non-Duality. Guadapada was the guru of the
guru of (param-guru) of Shankara & in the 20th
century, Ramana Maharshi. Herein
is only their Teaching & that enunciated by Ramana’s disciple Master
Nome. The author can claim none of
the essential content, but only some quirks of wording & occasional analogies
& interpretations. But just that is
the humble Dakshina, offering to Dakshina–murti & his lineage. By the Grace of those gurus, what follows can help in the inevitable attainment of
compete Enlightenment, Awakening to the True Reality of the Self.

[The little chant under the heading comes from Neem
Karoli students, with the meaning taken here to be that all of "daily
life" is inescapable, earned Karma,
so remain Detached. But at the same
time, all is also Grace. Dharma in this case means spiritual practice,
while "Space" is increasing merger with & as Formless Brahman.]

We can scratch the surface of Master Nome’s wisdom by
reviewing some aphorisms appearing early in his teachings. He following are
some examples., collected under a number of central topics.

HAPPINESS

Desire is the urge to be happy. The sense of Happiness in
any experience does not come from the thing experienced. Happiness is
within. When Desire is faced inwardly,
it yields Wisdom.

WORLD

Illusion is that which is not. All that is objective is illusion. The World is unreal. Do not be afraid to let go of a World that
does not really exist. It is better to
say the World is in you than you are in the World. There is no World (any objective thing),
& there is no one to experience or know it.
There has never been a single objective thing. All objective things
change, that which is Real does not change.
It is you who say that anything is real. the object does not declare its
own reality. To known the Reality, know yourself. Any object of experience has
no more existence separate from the Self than printed letters from a page of
paper, or waves from water. An unreal Body performs unreal actions in an unreal
World.

DREAM

Ego, manifestation, form & ignorance: these are like an
optical illusion, a mirage, a Dream without substance, the life-history of a
fictional character. Regard all
manifestation as an hallucination or as a Day-dream lasting but a moment. Consider the World to be a Dream, &
discover the absence of the Dreamer. Regard all Thought as an empty echo &
the World as a Dream. Know the World to be unreal & yourself as not a
character in it, & the Dream is over. To expect the perception of forms -
the World, Body, Senses, & Thought - to disappear at its own level to
transcend them is like expecting the Dream character in one’s Dream to see the
Dream forms - Dream World, Dream Body, Dream Senses, & Dream Thoughts -
disappear within the Dream, before waking up. When the forms - the World, Body,
Senses, & Thought - vanish, the Reality of pure, transcendent Being alone
remains. Even when the World is thought of as appearing, the Reality of pure,
transcendent Being alone remains.

SPACE

The World, Time, Space, life, death, objective things, the
Mind, ignorance, bondage, & an experiencer of these are just concepts. Concepts are unreal Absolute Being alone is.
The conception of Space requires misidentification with the Body. The
conception of Time requires misidentification with Thought. The Self is neither
the Body nor Thought. It is Spaceless & Timeless. As Space is endless,
clear, formless, embracing all, bound by none, all-pervading, ungraspable,
& has no within or without, so it is with the Self.

TIME

Now is not a Time. Here is not a location. Here & Now is
formless, real Being. The past &
future have no reality. The fleeting present moment is also an illusion.
Timeless Consciousness is conceived as Time & all that Time measures. When does Time begin ? When there was no
Time. But if there was no Time, no then or now, did it begin at all ?

CAUSALITY

The Absolute (the Self) is neither Caused by anything else
nor does it Cause anything else. Infinite, there is nothing beyond it produced
by it. The Cause is always seen in the Effect. The Effect is just the Cause
appearing as such. In Truth, there is only one Cause. The ultimate Cause of
all, the Absolute is itself uncaused. Causality is itself illusory. There is no Cause for illusion; for illusion
is unreal, & for an unreal Effect there cannot be a real Cause.

EGO

The Ego has no form of its own. Strip it of its covering,
& nothing remains of it.

Superimpose Being: the Ego seems existent. Superimpose
Consciousness: the Ego seems sentient, a second knower. Superimpose Bliss:
Happiness seems external. Go back the way you came. All illusion if ignorance.
Ignorance is misidentification. All mis-identification is the Ego. The Ego is
nonexistent. The Ego is a false assumption assumed by no one. All the known is
for the “I,” but the “I” does not exist at all. All illusion is based upon the
Ego, & all illusion is contained in the Ego - but the Ego itself is an
illusion ! No one has seen an Ego at any
Time. An Ego is an absence. The Ego cannot be produced by the Self, cannot be
produced by anything in the Universe, & cannot be self-produced. So, where
is bondage ? All illusion is for the
Ego, based upon the Ego, & contained within the Ego. Self-Realization is
the Knowledge of the absence of the Ego & the utter unreality of illusion.
Upon the Ego is based all ignorance & misidentification. The discovery of
the absence of the Ego is the end of all ignorance & misidentification.
With the imagined rise of the Ego, all else appears, with the disappearance of
the Ego, all else is not.

MIND

The entire Universe is in the Mind & the Mind does not exist.
Be free from Thought’s definition, from the notion of a second knowing
principle, & from the notion of a differentiated Mind. This is merger of
the Mind.

BODY

To see the World, one must stand as the Body. To see the
Body one must stand as the Mind. To see the Mind one must stand as the Ego. Who
are you ? If the Ego is not, creation is
not. An incalculable number of cells are
given the name “Body,” & such is considered an existent entity. Remove one
cell at a Time & see what actually is the Body. A name, such as
"body" does not make "body" a reality. There is no inner
& no outer. It is ignorance to assume the Body is the boundary line between
them. The self is not the Body & has no inside or outside. The Body is
objective, divisible, changeful, & dependent for its very appearance. The
Self is non-objective, indivisible, changeless, non-dependent &
self-existent. How can the 2 be confounded ?
The bodiless Self is birthless, locationless, & deathless. The Self
comes from nowhere & goes nowhere.

EXPERIENCE

All experience is of the nature of the experiencer. The sense of reality in every experience does
not come from the things experienced. The Self is the source.

REALITY

Do not mistake a definition for Existence itself. Being is
forever undefined but realized as “I”. Both the appearance & disappearance
of a thing or a Thought are forms. The Formless is neither. No form can yield
the Formless, forms can give rise only to other forms. Neither dualism nor a
concept of unity is the Non-dual Truth. Non-objective Being is neither a
multiplicity, nor one-in-many, nor many-in-one. The Absolute is not a part of
Reality relative to other things. Being is seamless. Where there is plurality,
one sees only false appearance, where there is Non-Duality, one see clearly
& truly. There cannot be Non-Duality with forms viewed as forms, &
there can be no duality in the Formless. There cannot be 2 that are formless.
The Formless is real & infinite. There are no forms within the Formless
& none beyond the Formless. All forms arise from, appear in, & dissolve
into the seamless, indivisible, formless Reality. The Absolute is formless
& non-dual. There is nothing outside it & no “outside.” Nor is there anything within the Absolute.

BEING

Being & Consciousness are one & the same. That which
is real ever is, continuously. What is discontinuous is never real. Every form
is dependent on something else to be experienced. Being, which is
Consciousness, is non-dependent. What is dependent is unreal. What is
self-existent is real. In relation to all things, Consciousness is the Witness.
Seen clearly as it is, Consciousness is formless, & there has never been an
objective thing; there is neither knower nor anything known. Being can never
change its nature. Being has no attributes. It is the Void, Brahman, forever
free of definition. It is called the Self because it is your very Being, who
you are. It is called Being because it always is, Timelessly, & can never
cease or be destroyed. It is called Consciousness because it is nonobjective
& can never be a known or unknown object. It is called Supreme Love because
it surpasses all emotion & is indivisible. It is called Bliss because it is
full with exquisite perfection that can never be flawed or deficient. It is
called God because it is nothing else. It is called Eternal, for it is
uncreated & imperishable. It is called the Absolute because its Existence
is non-dependent & it is not in relation to anything. What is this formless
undefined Self in itself. That which is Real does not depend on anything else
to be or to be experienced. This is Being. Again & again examination of the
dependent in this way will emphasize the Self as the residual Reality.
Changeless Being is the root of peace. Space-like Consciousness is the root of
Freedom. The Bliss of the Self is the root of joyful Love.

CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness can never be a known or unknown object. The
known depends on the knower & does not exist apart from the knower.
Consciousness is self-luminous. None knows it. It knows all. It knows
itself. Thought is only Consciousness,
yet Consciousness is not Thought. The
World in the Senses, the Senses in the thinking process, thinking within
Consciousness; Consciousness is vast & formless, this is the clear
perspective. The origin of the Universe is the origin of one’s present
experience. It is Consciousness.

All things originate from That which is not a thing. All
Thoughts derive from That which is not any of them. That is formless,
inconceivable Consciousness. There is no experience apart from Consciousness.
All experience rises, appears, & dissolves in Consciousness, which has no
rise, appearance, or dissolution.
Consciousness alone appears as all experience. Known as it is,
Consciousness has no appearance whatsoever. That which illumines Thoughts,
sensory perceptions, & all experience is known by none of these. It is
Consciousness, formless, & infinite.

He who knows the Truth of the Self has neither birth nor
death, neither attachment nor fear, for he is one with Consciousness. Only Consciousness
can know itself. Nothing else can do so. First, see that Consciousness contains
all that is ever experienced. Then, see that Consciousness is forever
unmodified & there is no all for it to contain.

That which knows the presence or absence of Thoughts is
neither the presence or absence of Thoughts. Neither the presence or absence of
Thoughts obscures or clarifies that Knower. Consciousness, which is the Knower,
is never defined by the known. That is ever still, that in which the 3 states
of Waking, Dreaming, & Deep Dreamless Sleep, along with all that they
contain, appear as the illusion of motion. Likewise illusory is form in the
Formless, or a modification in That which is unchanging. This is the Reality of infinite
Consciousness.

Consciousness requires no light other than itself to
illumine itself.

The entire manifestation is rightly said to be only one
small corner in the infinite, formless Consciousness. Examining a corner to see
what actually is the corner, it reduces itself to a single conceptual dot. That
dot is the notion of an “other,” a “2nd”. In Ultimate Truth, as
there are no corners in Space. There is not a sing objective thing in the
Reality of the Self.

SELF

Negate the attributes superimposed on the Self & the
concepts about the

Absolute, & realize their identity. The Self is in all
sentient beings, the Consciousness which is their Being; in all things, the
unseen Existence which is; in all locations, the Space; in all Space, the
vastness; in all Time, the endlessness, in every heart, the Love.

Veiling & differentiation are the characteristics of
ignorance. As dimension of depth of the image in a mirror does not truly exist,
so differentiation does not exist in the one Self.

MEDITATION

Meditate on Consciousness without an object. If you ask
yourself what do you know for certain, you will release all ideas & form
& abide in ever-existent Being.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused
or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public
Folder” accessible through www.jpstiga.com ]